The Black Cow Coffee Company

After visiting Cold Spring,NY along the Hudson River on this beautiful Sunday, we stopped by the Black Cow coffee company in Pleasantville, NY on the way home. It was a nice place to hang out. There were groups of ladies doing knitting at this one long table. Another group set up a mahjong table. I saw this man doing some work at the far corner and decided to sketch him.

The pedestal

Looking north by the front terrace of the NY Public Library, I saw this pedestal and thought it could be a good subject for a 30 minute sketch (36 minutes to be exact).  Once I got home, I tried applying a watercolor wash.  The sketch book paper wasn't meant to be used for watercolor but I tried playing with it anyway.  The end result was this.

Midtown Scene

On 5th Avenue and 39th Street, I stood near the curb looking at the scaffolding and street corner lamp post with the traffic light and video surveillance box attached to it.  Maybe I was just challenged to see where my sketch would lead.  One line after another, it started clicking together.  It took about 30 minutes to get the scene right before I made a dash to the GCT to catch the next train home.  Later that evening,  I put some watercolor wash to see what I could do with this scene. 

The Gantry Plaza State Park

Last Saturday's urban sketching outing was held at the Gantry Plaza State Park in Long Island City.  I've seen pictures of the gantry with a Long Island sign on on it but wondered where this structure is situated.  Now I know and the Pepsi Cola sign isn't too far from it either.  I used the direct-to-watercolor approach in sketching the gantry and while doing that, a curious onlooker, Dan, sought my permission for taking a picture of me sketching.  After lunch, I found a nice spot to sketch the iconic soda brand sign.  It was a very humid day with pockets of thunderstorm threatening to pop at any time.  It turned out to be a good day to sketch this area.  I would not mind coming back here again.

Daily Drawing

I've been sketching daily but have fallen behind on posting them here on my blog.  My other social media sites have been getting more recent works I've done.  On the eve of the Fourth of July, I went to see the Harrison fireworks display, not for the fireworks itself, but the interesting sights surrounding the event, like this fire engine ladder #24, on the ready in case something goes wrong.  It was a fun evening and loud fireworks!

The Soft Ice Cream Truck

This Soft Ice Cream truck on the corner of 39th Street and 5th Avenue is an interesting subject.  I noticed it before so I decided to sketch it last Tuesday before heading home.  15 minutes to get all the basic scene.  A day later, I made the color wash.

The corner restaurant

Left home past 9:00am last Sunday and drove down to the Chelsea neighborhood near 21st Street and 9th Avenue.  It was an easy drive to get down there just before the noontime start of the World Pride Day parade celebration.  I sat in the car and sketched this scene before me using a fountain pen.  Just as I was adding some watercolor, I was alerted it was time to go home.  We were in and out of Manhattan in 3.5 hours.  That was a good time considering all the festivities and parade going on.  I finished adding the watercolor once I got home.